Many who celebrate the holiday buy rabbits for the occasion or as gifts for young children. But in the days and weeks after, many have second thoughts about the newly acquired pets.

"They don't want them really," said Heather Bechtel, executive director for the Rabbit Haven. "They were only there for the Easter holiday and now that the holiday is over, the children are no longer interested."

The haven, which rescues rabbits and adopts them out, is expecting phone calls and emails from people who don't want the four-legged creatures. The haven received and rescued more than 650 rabbits in 2013, with an estimated 100 to 250 just in the weeks after Easter, Bechtel said.

Volunteers recently took in two rabbits bought for Easter and injured by a child. One rabbit had a broken hind leg after a child grabbed it too roughly and the other had its left eye poked out, Bechtel said.

"It's very common because when you give a rabbit to a child that's a toddler, their way of petting can harm a rabbit or break a rabbit's limbs," she said.

Other injuries vary from gastrointestinal issues, dehydration or exhaustion.

And the haven reaches far in trying to rescue rabbits, receiving calls from Los Angeles to Sacramento.

Bechtel said she also expects another flurry of phone calls at the end of the month, when rabbits unexpectedly reproduce. Owners who sometimes buy two rabbits thinking they're a pair of male or female rabbits often wake up to find a litter eight to 12 rabbits.

Male rabbits can begin reproducing at about three months old and females at four months, Bechtel said.

"Most often, the family is really flipped out about having a litter so they want to get rid of the mother and the litter," she said.

The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter also sees its share of post-Easter bunnies, with most people surrendering the rabbits at the end of April and beginning of May, said Ben Winkleblack, manager for the shelter.

"I think people go to a pet store and buy rabbits for $20 and they have about $20 worth of investment emotionally in this rabbit," Winkleblack said.

While rabbits are small animals, just like any other pet, they require food, exercise and veterinary visits.

"I think they don't plan on this being a long-term commitment," he said. "They never choose to let the rabbit live as a member of the family like a dog or a cat."

While the shelter doesn't see many rabbits each year — usually 30 to 40 — four or five of them come after Easter, Winkleblack said. Sometimes it receives more if family is looking to get rid of a mother and a litter of rabbits. Though rabbits are the third most common animal to enter the shelter, Winkleblack said the number pales in comparison to the thousands of dogs and cats each year.

There's only enough space at the shelter for 10 to 12 rabbits so many rabbits, particularly the baby bunnies, are given to volunteers for foster care.

But there are those who keep the rabbits and call for help. And Winkleblack said he encourages them to call the shelter — 831-454-7200 — for advice and for the spay-neutering service.

"So we don't see this problem again and again and again," he said.

Bechtel echoed the sentiment, encouraging anyone who received a rabbit during Easter to come to Sunday's adoption event.